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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can claim.